Look, Don’t Think
Be a natural, a tennis whisperer. Observe.
The human mind needs to be calmed down.
This mind is too fast, thinks too many non-efficient things.
If you operate looking, rather than thinking, you’ll be calmer, more efficient.
Just move your head and your upper body to start in one direction.
The outside foot will slide underneath the body, which now, unbalanced, will move on its own.
There will be no need to push hard.
Then find the ball in your favorite hitting spot, feel it, and finish your stroke all the way.

The Edge
Conventional tennis had been thought to be played with the strings meeting squarely the ball.
Modern tennis power emphasis is led mostly with the racquet’s edge.
Think of it in terms of Martial Arts. The edge of the hand is your powerful weapon, and also your defense.
Today’s high power game is more of deflection than straight power. You want spin on nearly every ball.
Lead with your racquet’s edges, top edge for topspin, bottom edge for slice, and you’ll have more control.

Transference
I have tested, for decades, an interesting experiment that has proven helpful to a lot of players, from amateurs to pros.
Rather than trying to position your body at a certain distance from the ball, track the ball with your playing hand or hands as if you were trying to catch it.
Now comes something that is instinctive, dictated by your intention of driving the hand to your favorite end of the stroke. For example, you track the ball with your hand, you see it right where you want it, with a bit of back and forth hand movement you then accelerate your racquet diagonally, that is, up for topspin and across your body for control. You finish the stroke pointing the butt of the racquet to where you sent the ball.
It is an easy transfer of focus where you transition from catch to hit with no doubts or reservations in the blink of an eye.
You may even have your racquet quite loose.
It may seem too simplistic, too left to chance. But by keeping both hands on the racquet while tracking the ball, your playing hand will determine the timing necessary and the details of your stroke. Just make sure you finish the stroke all the way.
Focusing initially on the hand, rather than on the racquet, can develop several abilities. One is something that you most likely learned at a very young age: the skill to catch a moving object while YOU are on the move as well and then throw it away.
Another resulting advantage is the simplification of the thought process. There is a hand and there is a ball you want to catch. Nothing else matters. I’d like to venture that there is no thought necessary at all. You are free to go about it as you please.
It is nothing complicated, nothing rushed. Your lower body may be in an emergency, running fast. It will tend to look for efficiency to help you execute your primary intention, which is your stroke. Let your body teach you. Feel it and don’t force it in authoritarian ways.
The details on how to maximize your control and power are in other sections of my work.
Give it your best try and let me know the results.

Look, Don’t Think
Be a natural, a tennis whisperer. Observe.
The human mind needs to be calmed down.
This mind is too fast, thinks too many non-efficient things.
If you operate looking, rather than thinking, you’ll be calmer, more efficient.
Just move your head and your upper body to start in one direction.
The outside foot will slide underneath the body, which now, unbalanced, will move on its own.
There will be no need to push hard.
Then find the ball in your favorite hitting spot, feel it, and finish your stroke all the way.

The Edge
Conventional tennis had been thought to be played with the strings meeting squarely the ball.
Modern tennis power emphasis is led mostly with the racquet’s edge.
Think of it in terms of Martial Arts. The edge of the hand is your powerful weapon, and also your defense.
Today’s high power game is more of deflection than straight power. You want spin on nearly every ball.
Lead with your racquet’s edges, top edge for topspin, bottom edge for slice, and you’ll have more control.

Transference
I have tested, for decades, an interesting experiment that has proven helpful to a lot of players, from amateurs to pros.
Rather than trying to position your body at a certain distance from the ball, track the ball with your playing hand or hands as if you were trying to catch it.
Now comes something that is instinctive, dictated by your intention of driving the hand to your favorite end of the stroke. For example, you track the ball with your hand, you see it right where you want it, with a bit of back and forth hand movement you then accelerate your racquet diagonally, that is, up for topspin and across your body for control. You finish the stroke pointing the butt of the racquet to where you sent the ball.
It is an easy transfer of focus where you transition from catch to hit with no doubts or reservations in the blink of an eye.
You may even have your racquet quite loose.
It may seem too simplistic, too left to chance. But by keeping both hands on the racquet while tracking the ball, your playing hand will determine the timing necessary and the details of your stroke. Just make sure you finish the stroke all the way.
Focusing initially on the hand, rather than on the racquet, can develop several abilities. One is something that you most likely learned at a very young age: the skill to catch a moving object while YOU are on the move as well and then throw it away.
Another resulting advantage is the simplification of the thought process. There is a hand and there is a ball you want to catch. Nothing else matters. I’d like to venture that there is no thought necessary at all. You are free to go about it as you please.
It is nothing complicated, nothing rushed. Your lower body may be in an emergency, running fast. It will tend to look for efficiency to help you execute your primary intention, which is your stroke. Let your body teach you. Feel it and don’t force it in authoritarian ways.
The details on how to maximize your control and power are in other sections of my work.
Give it your best try and let me know the results.

Cool, I keep saying and others disagree that Tennis is in the brain, we all have the same equipment, the difference is the mind. I do disagree big time with point 2, that's what these guys do teach, but not all shots should be topspin, we need flat shots, slice, sidespin, the whole gallery, but yea cool

Cool, I keep saying and others disagree that Tennis is in the brain, we all have the same equipment, the difference is the mind. I do disagree big time with point 2, that's what these guys do teach, but not all shots should be topspin, we need flat shots, slice, sidespin, the whole gallery, but yea cool

You use the edge on those shots in point 2 as well, except maybe the flat, lack of spin that is
not too common really with better players.

Biggest part for many who have some info, is to know what to leave out.

Just move your head and your upper body to start in one direction.
The outside foot will slide underneath the body, which now, unbalanced, will move on its own.

Lead with your racquet’s edges, top edge for topspin, bottom edge for slice, and you’ll have more control.

These are more or less correct.

Only things to add are that for many beginners, the outside foot does not automatically slide out towards the ball, as the natural tendency is to crossover with the inside foot (in real life, you usually want to turn and step across if something interesting is on one side). So this might have to be encouraged a little by a coach if it does not happen automatically.

For the second point, the terminology "lead" is indeed correct. Perhaps it is simpler to say "keep the face a little closed for top spin, a little open for slice," which is the same as the above. Important thing is that leading with one edge does not mean that contact will necessarily be towards that edge of the strings or the opposite edge, or in the center, but will depend on other things. A steeper lead will favor contact with the lower edge of the strings, a shallower lead more with the center.

Related to that, there is a subtlety that for topspin, the actual contact position is often not closed. The racket face is often vertical at contact. This is seen in Fed and Nadal forehands. It is difficult to see how this can be reconciled with a closed face or leading with the top edge. It seems that there is supination or opening of the arm on the forward swing till impact, followed by pronation during the dwell time and after. Otherwise, it is impossible to reconcile vertical face at impact with supposed closed face or leading with the top edge. I think the vertical to closed transition is what gives the solidity at impact. Instead of the swing path being a single arc over the ball, it is more like an arc coming up from under the ball and then closing over it at the end of the dwell time.

Can people please be civilized and can TT not delete these types of threads?
Let the discussion grow, let people debate. The more different types of coaching philosophies we have on here the better, even if you don't agree with anything mentioned. This is getting beyond ridiculous.

__________________
Throughout your life advance daily, becoming more skillful than yesterday, more skillful than today. This is never-ending. - Hagakure

Can people please be civilized and can TT not delete these types of threads?
Let the discussion grow, let people debate. The more different types of coaching philosophies we have on here the better, even if you don't agree with anything mentioned. This is getting beyond ridiculous.

Can people please be civilized and can TT not delete these types of threads?
Let the discussion grow, let people debate. The more different types of coaching philosophies we have on here the better, even if you don't agree with anything mentioned. This is getting beyond ridiculous.

I agree 100%, who are the complainers that keep getting these threads deleted. This is supposed to be a tennis site for tennis discussion, it amazes me that on a tennis site a long time tennis instructor is giving free advise and the threads keep getting nuked.

It makes you wonder if some of the haters are worried that the same instruction that they claim is so wrong could be found to be helpful and ruin their non stop Oscar bashing.

I think most players looking for help take a little something from many different teaching methods, some they will like and some they will think are no good. But it would be nice if we would at least get to make that choice.

And if Oscar is so wrong I do not understand why the same few haters have to jump in and start the trouble. If they know it is wrong just stay out of these threads and stay with what they think is the right way. Isn't that what most normal people would do?

I agree 100%, who are the complainers that keep getting these threads deleted. This is supposed to be a tennis site for tennis discussion, it amazes me that on a tennis site a long time tennis instructor is giving free advise and the threads keep getting nuked.

It makes you wonder if some of the haters are worried that the same instruction that they claim is so wrong could be found to be helpful and ruin their non stop Oscar bashing.

I think most players looking for help take a little something from many different teaching methods, some they will like and some they will think are no good. But it would be nice if we would at least get to make that choice.

And if Oscar is so wrong I do not understand why the same few haters have to jump in and start the trouble. If they know it is wrong just stay out of these threads and stay with what they think is the right way. Isn't that what most normal people would do?

So if you disagree you are labeled a "Hater"?

Aren't others entitled to opinions, or do we just sit back like mindless robots and say "Yes teacher"?

I agree many get very nasty, but a difference of opinion helps people grow. I do a thread and I don't care if others disagree.

Aren't others entitled to opinions, or do we just sit back like mindless robots and say "Yes teacher"?

I agree many get very nasty, but a difference of opinion helps people grow. I do a thread and I don't care if others disagree.

Well you must have missed most of these Oscar threads obviously. There have been a few posters that have to jump in every thread that involves Oscar and start useless bickering that leads to the the thread being deleted.

The difference of opinion is fine with me, I agree that it helps to hear different sides and opinions. Even though a lot of it was just obnoxious trouble making that didn't bother me that much, but what did is the thread would just be getting going and becoming interesting and it would be nuked because of the haters starting so much crap.

Well you must have missed most of these Oscar threads obviously. There have been a few posters that have to jump in every thread that involves Oscar and start useless bickering that leads to the the thread being deleted.

The difference of opinion is fine with me, I agree that it helps to hear different sides and opinions. Even though a lot of it was just obnoxious trouble making that didn't bother me that much, but what did is the thread would just be getting going and becoming interesting and it would be nuked because of the haters starting so much crap.

Yea hear you, it's amazing some of these threads, guy posts "Here's why I think X is better than Y", and dudes are vicious! "This shows why you are such a ..............." It's like "Cool it it's just tennis".

I've fallen for this myself, but yea we should all be friendly, we say something stupid, so what. I mean I have a stalker on this forum, some guy can't stand me, I just ignore it because I really enjoy this forum.

Can people please be civilized and can TT not delete these types of threads?
Let the discussion grow, let people debate. The more different types of coaching philosophies we have on here the better, even if you don't agree with anything mentioned. This is getting beyond ridiculous.